David Pilgrim, vice president for Diversity and Inclusion at Ferris State University,
has received the “Diversity Visionary Award” from INSIGHT into Diversity.

This national honor was announced in June 2014 by Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of
INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine and owner and president of Potomac Publishing, Inc.
Pearlstein cited Pilgrim’s “vision, dedication and long-term commitment to diversity
and inclusion” among the criteria for his selection as the award recipient. Pilgrim
is expected to be officially recognized in an upcoming issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity
Magazine’s Visionary Award recipient section.

“I am humbled to be honored with this Diversity Visionary Award from INSIGHT Into
Diversity,” Pilgrim said. “Although we still have weighty work to do, we should never
lose sight of the substantial progress we’ve made toward making Ferris more diverse
and inclusive. Also, thanks in large part to the Jim Crow Museum, Ferris has played
a role in advancing the national dialogue on issues related to diversity and inclusion.
For that, we should feel proud. I am blessed to be part of a great team, at Ferris,
and it is our collective efforts that make it all the more gratifying to receive this
national honor from INSIGHT Into Diversity.”

Pilgrim is also founder and curator of the university’s internationally-recognized
Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia – a 9,000-piece collection of artifacts located
in the Ferris Library for Information Technology and Education on the Big Rapids campus.
The museum uses objects of intolerance to teach tolerance. Pilgrim’s writings, many
of which can be found here, are used by activists, scholars and students to strengthen historical knowledge
and to more fully understand contemporary expressions of racism.

For more than 40 years, INSIGHT Into Diversity has worked to connect potential employees
with institutions and businesses choosing to embrace a workforce more reflective of
local and national communities. More recently, INSIGHT Into Diversity has made efforts
to advance the national conversation about diversity and inclusion through interviews
and articles that highlight experts, innovators and leaders as well as initiatives
and programs.